Cart template $this->getItems() as $_item obtains configurable details not simple

Question

I'm editing the order in which the cart items appear in the table. I am trying to get the "vendor" super attribute value from each $this->getItems() as $_item. $_item->getProduct()->getId() is returning the simple product's parent configurable product id. I need to obtain values from the simple product in the cart. I'm not sure why $_item->getProduct()->getId() is giving me the parent Id. How do I get the "vendor" value. I have tried the following among other similar methods:

/template/checkout/cart.phtml

foreach($this->getItems() as $_item){
    $currentItemVendorId = Mage::getModel('catalog/product')->load($_item->getProduct()->getId())->getData('vendor');
}

Answer 1

The issue at hand is that $this->getItems() returns only visible items ( see Mage_Checkout_Block_Cart_Abstract::getItems(). Visible items include the configurable parent but not the children.

In that case you will need to do something akin to:

foreach($this->getQuote()->getAllItems() as $_item){
   //...
}

This will return all of the items including both the parent configurable and the child. To filter just for the simple child you'd do something like:

foreach($this->getQuote()->getAllItems() as $_item){
   if($_item->getProduct()->getTypeId()=='simple' && $_item->getParentId()){
      //then it's a simple child!
   }
}

As an aside, in the future, you needn't call load again on Product ID as you already have the product with $_item->getProduct(). If product information isn't loading in a particular scope try adding it to the collection.